Lit Terms: 109-End

Justin, Kris, and I finished our Prezi (finally).  Check it out!

Rising Action:  plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax
The heroes walked...and they walked some more...then suddenly, a battle!

Romanticism:  movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact
Revolutionary idea: there's no gravity!  Wait, no.  We're not on Earth!  Yes!

Satire:  ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general
Animal Farm by George Orwell

Scansion:  the analysis of verse in terms of meter
Since meter is a system of binary oppositions in which syllables are either marked or unmarked (long or short; stressed or unstressed), a binary code is all that is necessary to transcribe it... --T.V.F. Brogan

Setting:  the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur
It was a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

Lit Terms 83-108

I think the lit term numbers got mixed up somewhere along the way, so the first/last couple words may be not for this week, sorry.
Here's this week's Prezi that Justin Thompson and I made!

Onomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning.
BOOM!

Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox
Pretty Ugly

Pacing: rate of movement; tempo
Some books are over so fast the reader is left dumbfounded.  Others...are like Grapes of Wrath.

Parable: a story designed to convey some religious principle, moral lesson, or general truth
The parable of the Good Samaritan

Paradox: a statement apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally accepted ideas.
If I went back in time and killed one of my direct ancestors...then what?

Lit Terms 56-81

Here's the vocab Prezi Justin Thompson and I made.

Genre:  a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content

Gothic Tale:  a style in literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent grotesque action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence

Hyperbole:  an exaggerate statement often used as a figure of speech or to prove a point

Imagery:  figure of speech or vivid description, conveying images through any of the sense

Implication:  a meaning or understanding that is to be arrived at by the reader but that is not fully and explicitly stated by the author

LIterary Terms 31-56

Here's the Prezi that Justin Thompson and I made for this week's words.

Dialect: the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others

Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth

Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things

Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words

Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education

Literature Terms 6-30

Justin Thompson and I created a Prezi for these.  Check it out!

Analogy: a comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them

Analysis: a method in which a work or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts given rigorous and detailed scrutiny

Anaphora: a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the begining of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences

Anecdote: a very short story used to illustrate a point

Antagonists: a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative

Literature Terms 1-5

Allegory: a tale in prose or verse in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities; a story that uses symbols to make a point
And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened.

Alliteration: the repetition of similar initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words
Dastardly definitions and sordid sentences.

Allusion:  a reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects a reader to recognize
[see "anachronism"]

Ambiguity: something uncertain as to interpretation
"Wow, so annoyed right now..."

Anachroism:  something that shows up in the wrong place or the wrong time
Dinosaurs on a spaceship!

Vocabulary: Fall List #11

Justin Thompson made another vocab Prezi.  Check it out!

affinity: a natural liking for or attraction to a person, thing, idea, etc.
His affinity for the outrageous gave him a reputation as class clown.

bilious: peevish, irritable, cranky; or extremely distasteful
The bilious decor put him into a bilious mood.

cognate: allied or similar in nature or quality
To him, apples and oranges were cognates -- both fruit, after all.

cul-de-sac: any situation in which further progress is impossible
After a lifetime of hard work, he finally reached a cul-de-sac in his chosen field.

derring-do: daring deeds; heroic daring
Through a mixture of fool-hardiness and derring-do, he emerged the victor.

Vocabulary: Fall List #10

No list/sentences from me this week.  Instead, take a look at Justin Thompson's excellent vocab Prezi.  It's got plenty of humorous pictures to associate with the words, and is far more effective than anything I've done for vocab.

Vocabulary: Fall List #9 (Tentatively "remixed")

abortive: failing to succeed; unsuccessful
bruit: to voice abroad; rumor
contumelious: describing a humiliating insult
dictum: a saying; maxim; judicial assertion
ensconce: to settle securely or snugly
iconoclastic: attacking or ignoring cherished beliefs and long-held traditions
in medias res: in the middle of things
internecine: of or pertaining to conflict or struggle within a group; mutually descructive
maladroit: unskillful; awkward; bungling; tactless
maudlin: tearfully or weakly emotional, foolishly sentimental
modulate: to regulate or adjust to a cettain measure or proportion; soften; tone down
portentous: ominously significant or indicative
prescience: knowledge of things before they happen; foresight
quid pro quo: one thing in return for another
salubrious: favorable to or promoting health; healthful
saturnalian: unrestrained revelry; orgy
touchstone: a test or criterion for the qualities of a thing
traumatic: of, pertaining to, or produced by a trauma or wound; psychologically painful
vitiate: to impair the qualitiy of; make faulty; spoil
waggish: roguish in merriment and good humor

Vocabulary: Fall List #8

abeyance: a state of temporary disuse or suspension
ambivalent: having mixed feelings about someone or something; being unable to choose between two
beleaguer: to surround or beset, as with troubles
carte blanche: unconditional authority
cataclysm: any violent upheaval, particularly politically
debauch: to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance, etc.
eclat: brilliance of success, reputation
fastidious: excessively particular, critical, or demanding
gambol: to skip about, as in dancing or playing
imbue: to impregnate or inspire, as with feelings, opinions, etc.
inchoate: not yet completed or fully developed
lampoon: a sharp satire directed against an individual or institution
malleable: adapted or tractable
nemesis: something that a person cannot conquer
opt: to make a choice; choose
philistine: a person who is lacking in or hostile to cultural values, intellectual pursuits, aesthetic refinement, etc.
picaresque: pertaining to a form of prose fictional (originally Spanish) involving the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero; often humorous or satiric, dealing with the common people
queasy: inclined to or feeling nausea
refractory: hard or impossible to manage, stubbornly disobedient
savoir-faire: knowledge of just what to do in any situation; tact

Vocabulary: Fall List #7

aberration: the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual
His extended trips away from civilization made him somewhat of a social aberration.

ad hoc: for the specific purpose or end presently under consideration
The ad hoc council sought to solve the bizarre crisis of grilled cheese shortage.

bane: a person or thing that ruins or spoils; a deadly poison
Procrastination will be the bane of my academic existence.

bathos: a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax
After years living the glamorous city life, moving the dull suburbs was more a bathos than reprieve.

Vocabulary: Fall List #6

beatitude: supreme blessedness; exalted happiness
Unfortunately, the beatitude of Christmas morning fades with age.

bete noire: a person or thing strongly detested or avoided
Although the accusations were disproved, he became a bete noire.

bode: to be an omen of; portend
The dark clouds did not bode well for the coming day.

dank: unpleasantly moist or humid; damp and often chilly
As a cough racked his body, he cursed the dank dungeon he inhabited.

Vocabulary: Fall List #5

acumen: keen insight; shrewdness
During the zombie apocalypse, having acumen is paramount to survival.

adjudicate: to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence
Their opinions colored by bribes, they adjudicated that the freedom of speech should be made illegal.

anachronism: something that is in the wrong time
The adventurers were admiring the lush Jurassic landscape when suddenly a nuclear explosion sounded in the distance.

apocryphal: of doubtful authorship or authenticity
Over the passage of time, the famed story became apocryphal.

Vocabulary: Fall List #4

apostate: a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.
The apostate was forever shunned.

effusive: unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve; pouring out
For such a trivial matter, the effusion of emotion was quite off putting.

impasse: a position or situation from which there is no escape
"Ah, it seems we have reached an impasse," said the conniving evil mastermind.

euphoria: a state of intense happiness and self-confidence
Victory flooded him with euphoria.

lugubrious: mournful, dismal, or gloomy
The dreary Monday morning was lugubrious at best.

Vocabulary: Fall List #3

accolade: any award, honor, or laudatory notice
No amount of accolades could compare to self satisfaction.

acerbity: sourness, with roughness or astringency of taste
The acerbity of the medicine made him gag.

attrition: a wearing down or weakening of resistance, esp. as a result of continuous pressure
The war of attrition left both sides weary.

bromide: a platitude or trite saying, a person who is platitudinous and boring
The bromide laden speech put students to sleep.

chauvinist: a person who is aggressively and blindly patriotic or sexist
In most civilized places, chauvinism is among the most despicable of qualities.

Vocabulary: Fall List #2

[added after lists 3-7 for the midterm]

accouterments: personal clothing or equipment
apogee: highest or most distant point; climax
apropos: fitting; appropriate
bicker: to engage in petulant or peevish argument
coalesce: to unite or grow together into one
contretemps: an inopportune occurrence

Vocabulary: Fall List #1

[added after lists 3-7 for the midterm]

adumbrate: to produce a feint image of, or to foreshadow
apotheosis: elevation of a person to the rank of a god; epitome
ascetic: a person who leads an austerely simple life, abstains from normal pleasures
bauble: a showy, usually cheap ornament
beguile: to influence by trickery or flattery
burgeon: to grow or develop quickly; flourish